UAE’s Omar Al Olama Named in Time’s 100 Influential People in AI

Omar Sultan Al Olama, UAE Minister of Artificial Intelligence, has been listed in TIME Magazine’s 100 most influential people in AI in 2023. He has been at the helm, steering the country to tap into new-age and advanced technology. 

The UAE Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum expressed pride in the young minister’s endeavor. “Omar Sultan Al Olama, the world’s first Minister of Artificial Intelligence has been recognized on TIME magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in the field of artificial intelligence. I am proud of every Emirati who contributes to raising the country’s profile globally with their excellence and diligent work.” 

He added that the youth are the nation’s most valuable assets. 

Olama believes the United Arab Emirates is in a prime position to effect change in the sector on a global level. “We understand that we are in a unique position. We are a medium-sized country; we have invested in AI for a few years now. So we were a bit far ahead of many other countries that are in this domain.” 

The 33-year-old said they cannot compete with big league players like China or the United States, and added that in fact the UAE doesn’t want to compete. “Our job is to be first an enabler and to leverage our strength to support all the players when it comes to AI. So when our policymaking and our government is very agile and can move very quickly, we want to ensure that anyone who wants to deploy AI in a way where we can do it in a regulatory environment, the UAE comes first in mind and we’re able to then export whatever findings we have to the rest of the world.” 

Olama told Time that artificial intelligence is set to play in society for years to come. He said it requires ministries to be created to govern its use. “AI technology is so profound that we can actually look back in history to understand why we need to create a ministry for it. 

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“When humanity used to depend on coal and wood fire for energy, there was no ministry of energy. When it became paramount to actually ensure energy production and energy distribution, what happened is that every single government in the world appointed a Minister for energy. The same happened with telecommunications. I do believe that AI is at the same level.”